Dark Dreams (Prologue-Chapter 38)
by Fitey888
Summary: Cassandra returns, with an unexpected guest. Sequel to "Only In A Dream", so read that first. Yeah.
1. Dark Dreams (Prologue-6)

(AN: Um. Yeah. OK, well, several people told me they wanted to see Cassandra return, so, yeah, here she is, folks!)

Dark Dreams

Prologue

Cassandra

I stared into the forest. Something was calling me into it. 

I saw…something. A red glow came from a pathway in the embowels of the woods. I squinted, trying to see further in. 

__

Weird, I thought. No one used that old pathway, except thieves and people who were new to the town. I shrugged it off. It was probably just a stray dog, or something. 

I went back into the house, unknowing that those eyes would be returning to haunt me again.

Chapter 1

Jake

I walked slowly to Cassie's. I was going to see if she wanted to hang out. We didn't get to do much anymore. Not alone, anyway. It was always missions.

But, since the Ellimist had disabled the Yeerks for awhile, we were taking a well-deserved break from fighting them. 

Cassie's house came into view. I walked up the porch and knocked on the door. Cassie's parents answered. 

"Why _hello_ Jake! We haven't seen you in years it seems!" 

"Yeah. I've been busy." I countered.

I didn't really want to talk to Cassie's parents. I just wanted to see Cassie and talk with her about normal stuff.

You know, school, homework, life. Stuff that we hadn't had time for in… well, since the construction site. Where Elfangor gave us the morphing power. 

"Cassie's in her room, doing her homework," her parents told me.

"Thanks."

I walked up the stairs, and entered into Cassie's room.  
"Hi Jake!" Exclaimed Cassie.

"Cassie," I smiled. "I felt like talking, about, you know, _normal_ stuff. Instead of-" I looked around, as is thinking Visser Three would pop out of nowhere. "Instead of the Yeerks."

Cassie studied me. 

"Jake. It's more than that. You want to talk about Cassandra, don't you? You're wondering if we really did the right thing in helping her." 

I looked at her, surprised. I knew I shouldn't have been- Cassie has a natural talent for reading people. Like a sixth sense. 

"How'd you know?" 

"I can tell it in your eyes. You think that maybe we shouldn't have helped her after what she did to Marco.

"Well,if you want my opinion- I think that was a show for Crayak. But you know what? I think inside her intentions were well enough. I know if I had been in her position, I would have been afraid. Afraid of Crayak, us. Everyone. She was in a death-like sleep for _five_ years. It would have been freaky. And besides- look how all her other encounters with humans turned out. That would make her even more fearful. Jake, don't worry. You did the best you could, even if it wasn't the best choice to save her." 

"Er… Thanks Cassie. I needed that."

Cassie smiled slightly. "So that's all you wanted to say? Nothing else?"

I looked at Cassie. "No. Let's just. Talk. Want to go see a movie? I know of a cheesy-romance that's on."

"Sure, Jake. Anything to escape the abnormal world we live in."

"Even cheesy-romances?"  
"_Especially_ cheesy-romances."

Chapter 2

Tobias

[See anything, Ax-Man?]

[Nothing, friend Tobias. I believe that all evidence- if there even was any- of her existence has been destroyed.]

[Ah. Well. Want to go to the mall? I've got some money we can use to buy cinnamon buns.]

I could feel the glow radiating from Ax even at a half-mile distance. 

[_Cinnabuns,_ _shorm_ Tobias?]

[Yeah, Ax. All the cinnabuns you can eat.]

[Let's go!]

We flew in the direction of the mall, Ax leading the way. I cast a last glance at the place where Marco had been traded off for me. It looked completely normal. Not even the shredded rabbit pieces were there. 

The Ellimist, it seemed, wanted no one to know of her existence. Even us.

And that wasn't acceptable. I needed to know what had happened to Cassandra. Where she had gone. Why she had gone. What her choice had been.

I don't know _why_ I wanted to know so badly. It was just a yearning inside of me, to figure out Cassandra's past, and where she had gone.

I felt drawn to the spot, and the other place where she had stayed. I wanted to see if I could find any clues. A picture, a note- anything. But it was bare. Nothing was there. It was even barer than it had been when she had kept me there.

But even then, a part of me inside knew there just _had_ to be something there to clue us in on her. 

Chapter 3

Marco

It took awhile to recover from what had happened. I mean, when your life has been threatened by a terrorizing vampire whose is half-bent on revenge; you'd know what I mean.

It can be very unnerving staring in the face of death.

But there I was, playing video games with my dad. 

"Oooh! That had to hurt!" I said, grinning. I had just blown up my dad's guy.

"I'm still winning by five!" He started firing at me.

I moved my guy to a hidden spot, and just as dad walked by I threw a grenade. 

"Yeesh! He's dead now, if he wasn't before."

__

FIVE MINUTES flashed across the screen. Five minutes to score five more wins to beat my dad when the phone rang. 

"I'll get it," I reassured my dad. 

I paused the game, and went into the kitchen to get the phone. 

"Hello?" I said.

"Hello…" said a raspy voice I had never heard before.

"Uhh.. Are you sure you have the right number?" I asked.

"Oh _very_ sure, Marco. I'm coming… I will be there soon…." The voice trailed off. I heard a click. 

I walked back into the living room. Dad had turned off the game to watch some old T.V show. 

"Who was it?" Inquired dad. 

"Wrong number," I replied dully. I went up to my room, and flopped onto my bed. But no matter how I tried to deny it, that voice sounded deathly familiar. 

Chapter 4

Rachel

"Come on!" I dragged her towards the door of the barn.

"No Rachel. I hate the mall, and you know it." She said, giving me her parent look.

I stopped. And stood hands on my hips. "Oh, come **on!** Just two hours."  
"No. I have chores to do. Animals to feed. Animal doo to introduce to my jeans." 

I looked at Cassie's jeans. They were old and ratty, covered in bird poop. 

"Cassie…"

"Oh alright!" She threw her hands up into the air. "B-"

I cut her off by grabbing her and dragging her out of the barn and about six feet down the road. 

Suddenly a big dog popped out from the forest, and looked at us. He wagged his tail and trotted over. 

"Woof," he said.

"Hi," I replied, even though he probably wasn't introducing himself, moreover just basking in the blissful happiness of being a dog. 

"Bow? Woof?" exclaimed the dog as he sniffed Cassie and I. 

I reached down, extending my hand to the dog to let him sniff me. 

"Bow!" He wagged his tail faster. 

I petted him, and he followed us the rest of the way to town. He stopped to wait by the doors, his tail thumping. 

"Wooooooohhffff!" He cried out mournfully as we walked inside.

But as soon as we disappeared, he seemed to recover, sniffing the bushes and people as they walked by. 

"He was cute," I told Cassie.

"Yeah," She smiled. "Must be good being a dog. No worries. Hakunah Matata." She quoted. 

I clapped my hands together. "Alright, girl! Let's do some shopping!" And I dragged her into 'The Limited'. 

Chapter 5

Cassandra

I sat down. It had been a long days work. I was tired. I ate a bit of bread, and then I drank some milk. I went and closed the doors. I had recently heard a vicious wolf had invaded the forests, and had already claimed one victim's life. I hadn't known him well, but he was an acquaintance. 

I closed the shutters on the windows, and walked into my room, holding up a candle for light. 

And there, on my bed sat a smiling boy. He was about my age, tall with straight, dark black hair. He had an odd smile on his face.

"Wha…what do you want?"

"Why," he said, his smile growing larger. "I came to meet you. After all, you _are_ living in my old home. And everything here belongs to me."

"What are you talking about? I've lived here all my life. I've never met or heard about you before!" 

His smile changed from amused to bitter. "That's because when I lived here, no one else did. Years and years ago…" 

I stared at him. Clearly, he was delusional. The first human being to enter this forest was an older man, and that alone was hundreds of years ago. 

His smile reappeared. "Delusional, am I?"

"What's your name? I _will_ be telling the sheriff about this, you know." I added hastily.

His smile became a half one now. He seemed to be looking me up and down. 

"Cassandra, you've grown on me! You must be a foot taller!"

I stood back. 

"H-….How do you know my name?" I said, looking into his deep blue eyes.

"I know more about you than maybe anyone in this town," he replied, his smile gone now replaced with a rather grim look. 

He leaned closer to me, as if to whisper in my ear. I moved closer even though red-alerts in my mind were going off.

__

"I know everything about **you**, Cassandra." He whispered. _"Everything." _

My eyes widened as I saw his lips draw back, and huge fangs descend onto my neck.

And then everything disappeared in a black haze. 

Chapter 6

Ax

[Must we persist in this futile action, _shorm_ Tobias?]

[Yep, Ax. We must. I can't explain it. I just have to figure something out,] Tobias said, absorbed in searching the ground for marks.

[AH-HAH!] Tobias exclaimed.

[What?] I asked, my main eyes on the ground, my stalk eyes on him.

[Come here, Ax-Man. Look at this.] 

I trotted over, and I looked down where he had indicated. All my eyes widened. 

[What is it, Tobias?] 

[I don't know. Some kind of inscription, it seems like. Old, to, by the looks of it. Let's see… This might be an 'L', and this could be a 'C' and… here's a double 'S' a bit after the 'C'. It seems that it says something with an 'L' before the 'C', and I think the 'C' is 'Cassandra'. See how the last letter looks like an 'A'? The rest is pretty fuzzy and all worn though. Keep looking for stuff like this, I'll find some way to mark it.]

[Allow me,] I answered. [Stand back.] 

I slammed my tail into the ground a bit next to the writing. A shower of sparks rained appeared, and a deep scratched mark appeared in the floor. 

[Wait- Tobias. Look!] 

I pointed to another spot on the floor. Four, neat, deep scratches were embedded in the floor. Similar matching marks were about a foot over, and they led down the floor. 

[Weird,] He commented. [Let's get back now. We have to tell the others what we've found!] 

[OK.] I agreed. I opened the door for Tobias, and he flew out, leading the way back to the barn while I closed the lid securely. 


	2. Dark Dreams (Chapters 7-12)

Chapter 13

Jake

"What!" I exclaimed.

"It's true Jake…She just told me. I guess cause of my 'close encounter with the weird kind' made me the expert. I'm surprised she didn't go see Cassie or Tobias or- anyone but _me_."

I laughed into the phone, but then became serious again. "So.. Do we know who this 'secret admirer' of Rachel's is?"

"No. But I'll tell you one thing: Tobias is going to be jealous, hehe." 

"Come **on** Marco. This_ is_ serious."

"Alright, alright. But let me tell you: life keeps getting worse. We finally defeat that girl-er….better not say it, but, we finally defeat her, and we have the…_them_ disabled for awhile, and we don't even get a break! I mean, come on!" I could just picture Marco shaking his head. 

I sighed. "Well. Anyway, let's have a meeting. We need to go check out…you know… for anything else. I'll call Rachel and Cassie; you go find Ax and Tobias. C-ya in a few!" I hung up before I could here his objections. 

I called Rachel and Cassie and told them about the meeting. I then went into my room, closed the door, shed my outer clothing down to my morphing outfit, and focused on becoming a peregrine falcon. 

I felt an itching and feathers popped out. My hands and arms became wings, my feet and legs scaly with talons.

My nose and mouth became a beak.

I felt the morph stop, and the falcon's mind emerge. I flew out the window to the spot where Cassandra had stayed. 

It was going to be a long day…

I arrived at the spot, and demorphed.

"Well, its about time O fearless leader," Marco said, smirking.

"Yeah, we've been here for at least twenty minutes." Rachel told me. 

[Are you guys ready, or are we going to talk about Jake this whole time?] Asked Tobias.

"Ready…Umm… I don't see how you get in."

[It's _really_ hard to see. If I hadn't been here before, I'd never have found it…]

Tobias guided Marco and I to the 'door', which turned out to be a rotten piece of wood covered in dirt and dead leaves. 

We hefted off the lid, and, carefully dropped into the deep pit.

I landed on my butt onto the dirty floor. I looked up.

"Did anyone bring a flashlight?"

"Yeah, I came prepared," Cassie told us. She handed a flashlight to me, and I clicked it on. I looked around the room.

Everywhere there were dead leaves and cobwebs, and other things of desolation. 

"Wow."

"Cassandra must not have been a very tidy person," Marco muttered.

The dirt covered every inch of the pit. It was like being in a large tomb. If ever, now was the time to become claustrophobic. 

"Sheesh. Well, where's that inscription?" I asked nervously.

[Over there.]

Again, Tobias guided us. We finally found the markings on the floor, the claw marks, and the mark from Ax's tail. But the odd thing was…

Cassie bent over the writing. "Guys, I don't know if you noticed… But this inscription is only about six months old." 

We stared at Cassie. 

[Six months? It looks like five years. Besides… Cassandra didn't awaken 'til later, remember?] 

"Just because Cassandra wasn't awake doesn't mean someone couldn't _visit_ her." Cassie pointed out.

"Who would want to visit her?" Marco asked.

"People who realized she was decent inside and not some kind of freak show or monster," Cassie retorted. "Not everyone is a complete Visser Three. And remember how she acted in the end? She wasn't actually evil."

"But… I don't know… Really. Who would want visit her?"

"_I_ would." Said an angry voice behind us. Suddenly I heard a gasp. "Cassandra! She is… gone!" 

Chapter 14

Cassandra

"Ohhh.." I moaned. I sat up. 

The first thing I noticed, the room wasn't so cold anymore. And, the carpet was white, with a black ceiling. And I was on a bed…

"Good. You're awake. I've been waiting."

I wasn't so startled to see him, this time. I felt calmer, now that I had adjusted to his comings-and-goings. 

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. "Why don't you ever tell me anything but bad news?" I questioned. 

He smiled. "I brought you some food. I figured you'd be hungry. You've been asleep for a day now."

My eyes widened in surprise. 

"And, after you've eaten, I have a surprise for you…"

He handed me a plate that had some chicken on it. I tore into it eagerly, my hunger fading with each bite. 

I finished the chicken, and placed the plate on a small nearby table.

"Now, if you'll come with me…" He held out his hand.

I took it, for some reason. I followed him out of the room into an amazing array of corridors and hallways.

All were painted white, and it reflected in my eyes, a burning white light. 

"Bright? I know… But it protects us from our enemies," He told me.  
"Enemies? What is this place, anyway?" I inquired.

"A place for refugees. Scapegoats. Tortured souls," He replied. "People unappreciated in this world." He seemed to be at a struggle for words. "They come here, or we find them."

"I don't get it," I said, as we continued walking.

He shrugged. "People who want or need protection come here. People who get picked on just because of their race or something. My job is to find people to help them."

I looked at him questionably, but he ignored me. 

"Here we are," He informed me. 

I wondered how he could tell one door apart from any others, but I kept it to myself. I still didn't completely trust him. 

"We're about a few weeks away from where you live," He explained. "I had to keep knocking you unconscious so you couldn't see where we were headed." 

__

Weeks away from where I used to live? That thought thrilled me. I had lived in that nowheresville for all my life. I hated it. 

I stared in awe around the room we were in. Unlike the others, this was painted a light pink with blue, and the carpet was mixed colors. It was a lot nicer than where I had stayed. 

"But why were you so…weird to me?" I whispered to him.

"Shh… I'll explain later. This is much more important."

Now that I knew him (even though I didn't know his name, which was _really_ weird), he seemed a lot nicer. 

This room had a long table in the middle, and sitting in various places around it were other people. All of them were deathly pale and they seemed to have an unearthly beauty about them. A lot like the guy standing next to me. 

I stared at them, and somewhere inside of me, I felt recognition to them, just like _him_. 

Everything about this room reminded me of…something. It sent a chill up my spine. 

One of the men motioned for me to sit down in a chair. 

I did.

"Ah, Damon. You have returned…" 

"Yes," He uttered. Then he sat down in a chair next to mine. 

"Is she willing?" asked another.

"Willing for _what?!_" I cried out.

A girl glared at Damon. "You didn't tell her the purpose of the initiation?"

That smile appeared on his face again. "No."

One of them cleared their throats. "It's rude of us to talk of…what's your name?" 

"Cassandra," I responded. 

"Thank you. As I was saying, it's rude of us to talk of Cassandra as though she isn't here with us. I suggest you tell her our intents, Rachael." 

The girl who had first spoken about the initiation cleared her throat and began. 

"The purpose of the initiation is to see if the person chosen is worthy," She told me. "If the person **is** chosen, they can still decide whether or not they want to join. If the person agrees, he or she will be made an official member…." She smiled mysteriously. "If they disagree, they can never leave, as they might tell other humans or vampires of our whereabouts." 

My eyes must've widened, because several people stared at me oddly. 

"Sorry," I told them, embarrassed.

Some of them looked like they would laugh, but they held their tongues. 

Rachael stared at me. "Would you like to join?" 

I wanted to say no…but I felt myself opening my mouth and saying: "What do I have to do?"

Chapter 15

Marco

We all turned.

"It's _him_," growled Rachel. "That's the guy."

Ax hid behind us, keeping low. 

"What have you done with her?" he snarled. 

"Done with who?" asked Jake.

"Cassandra, of course." The boy's eyes were glowing red. "I'm only going to ask you one more time… Where. Is. She?!" 

"We don't know!" I said.

His eyes flashed. "_LIAR!" _

"No, that's the truth!" Jake backed me up.

The boy reached over, and picked Jake up by the collar, lifting him into the air. He said in a menacing voice, his face close to Jake's. "Where is Cassandra?"

Jake struggled without any effect. "We told you! We don't know!"

"Fine… Then how did you get here?" 

No one answered. The boy threw Jake into a wall. "Fine," he said in a calm voice. "If you won't tell me, then I'll simply have to kill you."

Jake had crumpled to the floor, barely conscious. 

"Look," he said weakly. "We don't know where Cassandra is. We came to find out where she went, if there were any clues here. Obviously, there aren't. We'll go now…"

"I think not. That still doesn't answer how you know Cassandra." 

"We fought her." Rachel answered. "We fought her, won, and then she disappeared." 

"No…she wouldn't have fought…not Cassandra…She would have been too weak from her sleep…She would've told me she was awake." 

The boy sank to the floor, the anger in his eyes gone. "What…why.." He began, but stopped trying to speak after a minute or two.   
Cassie walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. She spoke into his ear, probably telling him exactly what had happened. The boys eyes widened when she got near the end, probably wondering who the Ellimist and Crayak were. 

Cassie stood up, but kept a hand on his shoulder.

"I… Cassandra…She…" He seemed to think it unreal, and ignored everyone else. Suddenly he turned, his eyes glowing red again. "It's _your_ faults she isn't here!" 

"No! We _had_ to fight her!" Jake said. 

The boy grabbed Rachel. "It isn't an issue anymore." He told us. Then, turning to Rachel he spoke. "You're coming with me, Rachel." 

Rachel seemed to start to concentrate. 

__

Of course, I thought. _She's morphing_

Coarse fur sprouted from her skin, and her fingers changed into black claws. She grew to a full eight feet. 

"HWRRROOOOAAARRRR!!!!" She roared.

She flung a fist at him, but he dodged easily. He seemed to grow a few more feet himself, but then shrank down to the form of a wolf.

Snarling, he clawed and bit her, dodging most of her blows. _Most_ of her blows. I began to morph Gorilla, and I saw tiger stripes on Jake, and Cassie was becoming a wolf.

Tobias let out a hawk cry, and dived at the wolf that was the boy, raking his fur with his talons. 

Bloody spots were appearing on Rachel and the wolf. He finally managed to claw her eyes, drawing blood.

[AAAAhhh!] Screamed Rachel. She started clawing the air around her, blinded. 

I went after the wolf, throwing punches. 

He got knocked into a wall several times, and Rachel eventually demorphed and then remorphed. 

Suddenly, he was cornered. He was snarling, and raking the air ahead with his paws, but he was badly injured, an ear missing, bloody spots on his fur. 

Ax whipped his tail at the wolf, and somehow, he managed to duck under the blade. 

With new fighting stamina, he attacked.

I was overwhelmed when suddenly I felt intense pain from my arm. It had been bitten and clawed into pieces.

The wolf became a human as Jake, Cassie, and I did. I noticed he had the same injuries on his body he had had when he was a wolf as well. He glared at us, and, in one smooth motion, opened the door and leaped out. 

We got out as well, but as we looked around, we saw he was already gone. Even Tobias couldn't see him.

I was amazed at how he had managed to hold us all at bay, and how he could turn into a wolf…

Chapter 16

Cassandra

After the initiation had been explained, I sat, biting my lip. I didn't know what to do. I was confused about everything. 

They postponed the meeting to two days later so I could have time to decide, and Damon returned me to my room. He explained why he had frightened me and taken me here in the first place.

"I had to frighten you so you wouldn't go off telling everyone in the village about me," He said. "I brought you here because we need more staff assistance. We only have about twenty people to help, and we need more." 

"I still don't get it. And why would you have enemies?" I asked.

"People who don't like vampires, or the people we save. People who just don't like us. Weirdo's like that," he informed me. 

"Vampires?" I laughed. "Vampires aren't real. They're only myths."

Damon looked at me. "Don't you remember when I first showed myself to you?" 

I moved uncomfortably. "That was just a dream. I first met you when I was taking the milk to market." 

"Oh really?" He smiled, and I saw fangs. "Is this a dream then?"

"Yes," I said, stubbornly. "You don't have fangs. And," I said, looking at his fingers. "You don't have huge claws."

Damon shook his head. "You _are_ stubborn, aren't you? Maybe **this** will prove it to you." 

He brought me closer to him, gently, and then I felt a prick on my neck. 

"Oh!" I began to struggle, and suddenly I felt intense pain, as though my soul were being sucked out. I continued to fight until he let go of me.

I stood against the wall, my face white. Damon didn't seem so pale as usual, and then I noticed a tinge of blood on his mouth. He licked his lips.

"You see?"

"Keep away from me!" I screamed. I backed away, still facing him.

He shrugged. "You can't leave. Not anymore… You're stuck here, whether you want to be or not. _All_ the staff are vampires; that way we live longer, and it helps us find people easier. I can see and hear, even smell better than a human. That's why most of our enemies are vampire hunters. They think we're using this facility for getting more people to become vampires, or something. But we aren't. We simply help others."

I continued backing away, until I got to the door to my room. I opened it, and then slammed it shut. I noticed there wasn't a lock on it, and I went to my bed. 

I put my face into my hands, and began to cry. It was a nightmare ever since…

I struggled to remember. Some part of me held pictures up of a bird, some kind of mutant thing with eyestalks and no mouth, and several people. I remembered a blue light, and then ending up on my farm, but nothing else. 

I don't know if I fell asleep, or what, but I remembered being shaken awake, and hearing an urgent voice.

Chapter 17

Jake


	3. Dark Dreams (Chapters 13-16)

Chapter 13

Jake

"What!" I exclaimed.

"It's true Jake…She just told me. I guess cause of my 'close encounter with the weird kind' made me the expert. I'm surprised she didn't go see Cassie or Tobias or- anyone but _me_."

I laughed into the phone, but then became serious again. "So.. Do we know who this 'secret admirer' of Rachel's is?"

"No. But I'll tell you one thing: Tobias is going to be jealous, hehe." 

"Come **on** Marco. This_ is_ serious."

"Alright, alright. But let me tell you: life keeps getting worse. We finally defeat that girl-er….better not say it, but, we finally defeat her, and we have the…_them_ disabled for awhile, and we don't even get a break! I mean, come on!" I could just picture Marco shaking his head. 

I sighed. "Well. Anyway, let's have a meeting. We need to go check out…you know… for anything else. I'll call Rachel and Cassie; you go find Ax and Tobias. C-ya in a few!" I hung up before I could here his objections. 

I called Rachel and Cassie and told them about the meeting. I then went into my room, closed the door, shed my outer clothing down to my morphing outfit, and focused on becoming a peregrine falcon. 

I felt an itching and feathers popped out. My hands and arms became wings, my feet and legs scaly with talons.

My nose and mouth became a beak.

I felt the morph stop, and the falcon's mind emerge. I flew out the window to the spot where Cassandra had stayed. 

It was going to be a long day…

I arrived at the spot, and demorphed.

"Well, its about time O fearless leader," Marco said, smirking.

"Yeah, we've been here for at least twenty minutes." Rachel told me. 

Are you guys ready, or are we going to talk about Jake this whole time? Asked Tobias.

"Ready…Umm… I don't see how you get in."

It's _really_ hard to see. If I hadn't been here before, I'd never have found it…

Tobias guided Marco and I to the 'door', which turned out to be a rotten piece of wood covered in dirt and dead leaves. 

We hefted off the lid, and, carefully dropped into the deep pit.

I landed on my butt onto the dirty floor. I looked up.

"Did anyone bring a flashlight?"

"Yeah, I came prepared," Cassie told us. She handed a flashlight to me, and I clicked it on. I looked around the room.

Everywhere there were dead leaves and cobwebs, and other things of desolation. 

"Wow."

"Cassandra must not have been a very tidy person," Marco muttered.

The dirt covered every inch of the pit. It was like being in a large tomb. If ever, now was the time to become claustrophobic. 

"Sheesh. Well, where's that inscription?" I asked nervously.

Over there.

Again, Tobias guided us. We finally found the markings on the floor, the claw marks, and the mark from Ax's tail. But the odd thing was…

Cassie bent over the writing. "Guys, I don't know if you noticed… But this inscription is only about six months old." 

We stared at Cassie. 

Six months? It looks like five years. Besides… Cassandra didn't awaken 'til later, remember? 

"Just because Cassandra wasn't awake doesn't mean someone couldn't _visit_ her." Cassie pointed out.

"Who would want to visit her?" Marco asked.

"People who realized she was decent inside and not some kind of freak show or monster," Cassie retorted. "Not everyone is a complete Visser Three. And remember how she acted in the end? She wasn't actually evil."

"But… I don't know… Really. Who would want visit her?"

"_I_ would." Said an angry voice behind us. Suddenly I heard a gasp. "Cassandra! She is… gone!" 

Chapter 14

Cassandra

"Ohhh.." I moaned. I sat up. 

The first thing I noticed, the room wasn't so cold anymore. And, the carpet was white, with a black ceiling. And I was on a bed…

"Good. You're awake. I've been waiting."

I wasn't so startled to see him, this time. I felt calmer, now that I had adjusted to his comings-and-goings. 

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. "Why don't you ever tell me anything but bad news?" I questioned. 

He smiled. "I brought you some food. I figured you'd be hungry. You've been asleep for a day now."

My eyes widened in surprise. 

"And, after you've eaten, I have a surprise for you…"

He handed me a plate that had some chicken on it. I tore into it eagerly, my hunger fading with each bite. 

I finished the chicken, and placed the plate on a small nearby table.

"Now, if you'll come with me…" He held out his hand.

I took it, for some reason. I followed him out of the room into an amazing array of corridors and hallways.

All were painted white, and it reflected in my eyes, a burning white light. 

"Bright? I know… But it protects us from our enemies," He told me.  
"Enemies? What is this place, anyway?" I inquired.

"A place for refugees. Scapegoats. Tortured souls," He replied. "People unappreciated in this world." He seemed to be at a struggle for words. "They come here, or we find them."

"I don't get it," I said, as we continued walking.

He shrugged. "People who want or need protection come here. People who get picked on just because of their race or something. My job is to find people to help them."

I looked at him questionably, but he ignored me. 

"Here we are," He informed me. 

I wondered how he could tell one door apart from any others, but I kept it to myself. I still didn't completely trust him. 

"We're about a few weeks away from where you live," He explained. "I had to keep knocking you unconscious so you couldn't see where we were headed." 

__

Weeks away from where I used to live? That thought thrilled me. I had lived in that nowheresville for all my life. I hated it. 

I stared in awe around the room we were in. Unlike the others, this was painted a light pink with blue, and the carpet was mixed colors. It was a lot nicer than where I had stayed. 

"But why were you so…weird to me?" I whispered to him.

"Shh… I'll explain later. This is much more important."

Now that I knew him (even though I didn't know his name, which was _really_ weird), he seemed a lot nicer. 

This room had a long table in the middle, and sitting in various places around it were other people. All of them were deathly pale and they seemed to have an unearthly beauty about them. A lot like the guy standing next to me. 

I stared at them, and somewhere inside of me, I felt recognition to them, just like _him_. 

Everything about this room reminded me of…something. It sent a chill up my spine. 

One of the men motioned for me to sit down in a chair. 

I did.

"Ah, Damon. You have returned…" 

"Yes," He uttered. Then he sat down in a chair next to mine. 

"Is she willing?" asked another.

"Willing for _what?!_" I cried out.

A girl glared at Damon. "You didn't tell her the purpose of the initiation?"

That smile appeared on his face again. "No."

One of them cleared their throats. "It's rude of us to talk of…what's your name?" 

"Cassandra," I responded. 

"Thank you. As I was saying, it's rude of us to talk of Cassandra as though she isn't here with us. I suggest you tell her our intents, Rachael." 

The girl who had first spoken about the initiation cleared her throat and began. 

"The purpose of the initiation is to see if the person chosen is worthy," She told me. "If the person **is** chosen, they can still decide whether or not they want to join. If the person agrees, he or she will be made an official member…." She smiled mysteriously. "If they disagree, they can never leave, as they might tell other humans or vampires of our whereabouts." 

My eyes must've widened, because several people stared at me oddly. 

"Sorry," I told them, embarrassed.

Some of them looked like they would laugh, but they held their tongues. 

Rachael stared at me. "Would you like to join?" 

I wanted to say no…but I felt myself opening my mouth and saying: "What do I have to do?"

Chapter 15

Marco

We all turned.

"It's _him_," growled Rachel. "That's the guy."

Ax hid behind us, keeping low. 

"What have you done with her?" he snarled. 

"Done with who?" asked Jake.

"Cassandra, of course." The boy's eyes were glowing red. "I'm only going to ask you one more time… Where. Is. She?!" 

"We don't know!" I said.

His eyes flashed. "_LIAR!" _

"No, that's the truth!" Jake backed me up.

The boy reached over, and picked Jake up by the collar, lifting him into the air. He said in a menacing voice, his face close to Jake's. "Where is Cassandra?"

Jake struggled without any effect. "We told you! We don't know!"

"Fine… Then how did you get here?" 

No one answered. The boy threw Jake into a wall. "Fine," he said in a calm voice. "If you won't tell me, then I'll simply have to kill you."

Jake had crumpled to the floor, barely conscious. 

"Look," he said weakly. "We don't know where Cassandra is. We came to find out where she went, if there were any clues here. Obviously, there aren't. We'll go now…"

"I think not. That still doesn't answer how you know Cassandra." 

"We fought her." Rachel answered. "We fought her, won, and then she disappeared." 

"No…she wouldn't have fought…not Cassandra…She would have been too weak from her sleep…She would've told me she was awake." 

The boy sank to the floor, the anger in his eyes gone. "What…why.." He began, but stopped trying to speak after a minute or two.   
Cassie walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. She spoke into his ear, probably telling him exactly what had happened. The boys eyes widened when she got near the end, probably wondering who the Ellimist and Crayak were. 

Cassie stood up, but kept a hand on his shoulder.

"I… Cassandra…She…" He seemed to think it unreal, and ignored everyone else. Suddenly he turned, his eyes glowing red again. "It's _your_ faults she isn't here!" 

"No! We _had_ to fight her!" Jake said. 

The boy grabbed Rachel. "It isn't an issue anymore." He told us. Then, turning to Rachel he spoke. "You're coming with me, Rachel." 

Rachel seemed to start to concentrate. 

__

Of course, I thought. _She's morphing_

Coarse fur sprouted from her skin, and her fingers changed into black claws. She grew to a full eight feet. 

"HWRRROOOOAAARRRR!!!!" She roared.

She flung a fist at him, but he dodged easily. He seemed to grow a few more feet himself, but then shrank down to the form of a wolf.

Snarling, he clawed and bit her, dodging most of her blows. _Most_ of her blows. I began to morph Gorilla, and I saw tiger stripes on Jake, and Cassie was becoming a wolf.

Tobias let out a hawk cry, and dived at the wolf that was the boy, raking his fur with his talons. 

Bloody spots were appearing on Rachel and the wolf. He finally managed to claw her eyes, drawing blood.

AAAAhhh! Screamed Rachel. She started clawing the air around her, blinded. 

I went after the wolf, throwing punches. 

He got knocked into a wall several times, and Rachel eventually demorphed and then remorphed. 

Suddenly, he was cornered. He was snarling, and raking the air ahead with his paws, but he was badly injured, an ear missing, bloody spots on his fur. 

Ax whipped his tail at the wolf, and somehow, he managed to duck under the blade. 

With new fighting stamina, he attacked.

I was overwhelmed when suddenly I felt intense pain from my arm. It had been bitten and clawed into pieces.

The wolf became a human as Jake, Cassie, and I did. I noticed he had the same injuries on his body he had had when he was a wolf as well. He glared at us, and, in one smooth motion, opened the door and leaped out. 

We got out as well, but as we looked around, we saw he was already gone. Even Tobias couldn't see him.

I was amazed at how he had managed to hold us all at bay, and how he could turn into a wolf…

Chapter 16

Cassandra

After the initiation had been explained, I sat, biting my lip. I didn't know what to do. I was confused about everything. 

They postponed the meeting to two days later so I could have time to decide, and Damon returned me to my room. He explained why he had frightened me and taken me here in the first place.

"I had to frighten you so you wouldn't go off telling everyone in the village about me," He said. "I brought you here because we need more staff assistance. We only have about twenty people to help, and we need more." 

"I still don't get it. And why would you have enemies?" I asked.

"People who don't like vampires, or the people we save. People who just don't like us. Weirdo's like that," he informed me. 

"Vampires?" I laughed. "Vampires aren't real. They're only myths."

Damon looked at me. "Don't you remember when I first showed myself to you?" 

I moved uncomfortably. "That was just a dream. I first met you when I was taking the milk to market." 

"Oh really?" He smiled, and I saw fangs. "Is this a dream then?"

"Yes," I said, stubbornly. "You don't have fangs. And," I said, looking at his fingers. "You don't have huge claws."

Damon shook his head. "You _are_ stubborn, aren't you? Maybe **this** will prove it to you." 

He brought me closer to him, gently, and then I felt a prick on my neck. 

"Oh!" I began to struggle, and suddenly I felt intense pain, as though my soul were being sucked out. I continued to fight until he let go of me.

I stood against the wall, my face white. Damon didn't seem so pale as usual, and then I noticed a tinge of blood on his mouth. He licked his lips.

"You see?"

"Keep away from me!" I screamed. I backed away, still facing him.

He shrugged. "You can't leave. Not anymore… You're stuck here, whether you want to be or not. _All_ the staff are vampires; that way we live longer, and it helps us find people easier. I can see and hear, even smell better than a human. That's why most of our enemies are vampire hunters. They think we're using this facility for getting more people to become vampires, or something. But we aren't. We simply help others."

I continued backing away, until I got to the door to my room. I opened it, and then slammed it shut. I noticed there wasn't a lock on it, and I went to my bed. 

I put my face into my hands, and began to cry. It was a nightmare ever since…

I struggled to remember. Some part of me held pictures up of a bird, some kind of mutant thing with eye stalks and no mouth, and several people. I remembered a blue light, and then ending up on my farm, but nothing else. 

I don't know if I fell asleep, or what, but I remembered being shaken awake, and hearing an urgent voice.


	4. Dark Dreams (Chapters 17-24)

Chapter 25

Ax

Rachel had morphed and was following Tobias to Cassie's house to get help. They were racing against time, against death…

Jake was kneeling by Cassie, silent and pale. He would not respond to anyone or anything, he just sat there, staring, seemingly saying something to himself over and over.

Marco was standing off by himself, his face hidden and blank so no one could read his emotions or thoughts.

I, Aximili, was afraid. In my hearts I felt a pain and loss that I had felt when Tobias had been traded for Marco, for Marco when he had 'died' and then been kidnapped.

Cassie was my friend. She was kind and understanding, and as I saw her laying in the grass in an unnatural way, I cried out for her. 

We stood, silent and pale, hoping and willing help to come.

Suddenly I heard a voice in my head. 

Ax? Jake? Marco? Better move. Chopper's closing in fast.

Tobias! He and Rachel had returned. I took off to the shadows, hiding myself in a position where I could see Cassie but not be seen by anyone in the helicopter.

I heard a whirring noise, and Jake and Marco stepped back, holding a hand to their eyes as they looked up. 

My stalk eyes followed their eyes, and I saw the helicopter, and as it came closer, the whirring became louder.

Just as I thought I couldn't take the noise any longer, they began to descend. Plants bowed down, and tree branches swayed. 

The helicopter landed close to Cassie, and two men jumped out with a stretcher. The lifted Cassie onto it, and then placed her in the helicopter. 

One man walked over to Jake and Marco, and seemed to be asking them something. Jake replied, the man shrugged, and ran back to the helicopter.

Jake and Marco melded into the shadows as it took off, and soon I saw a peregrine falcon and an osprey take flight.

Ax? A voiced questioned.

I am here, Prince Jake. I will join you shortly.

All right, man…Just, take care, you know? 

Yes, I replied. 

I stood staring at the stained grass that Cassie had been lying on. It was a brownish-red, and there was a small impression mark from her body. I shivered, and then I concentrated on the image of a Northern Harrier.

Chapter 26

Jake

No questions were asked. The only thing that mattered was Cassie. 

School was canceled. This was the second attack on one of the students, they wanted people to feel safe- wanted them to be able to recover.

But that didn't matter. Only Cassie did.

Her parents barely left the room, let alone the hospital. Rachel, Marco, and I were there a lot as well. 

__

Oh Cassie… 

'She's in a coma,' the doctors would say. 'We can't do anything to wake her up. She's lucky to be alive. She lost a lot of blood.' 

My heart was just about broken. It was hanging by a small thread of hope that Cassie would live, Cassie would awaken. And then there was that nagging, ripping, conquering feeling called _Revenge_.

I wanted to find that boy, I would find him and I would make him pay. I would do to him what he had done to Cassie, I would have _revenge_. 

Revenge is an odd thing. It can start first, like when Cassie had been kidnapped, I was angry, I wanted to save her, but I wasn't bent on revenge, no, then. 

When that boy had knocked Marco out, it made me a bit angrier, I wanted to hurt him, but then- when he had…..When he had…. When he had done what he had done to Cassie, I wanted _revenge_, not just throwing him into jail revenge or whatever revenge, but revenge as in make-him-suffer revenge.

I was going to find that boy, and then he would know what he had done to Cassie, my friend, and my secret crush. 

And I would make him pay.

Chapter 27

Damon

I walked among the humans to the hospital. I was going to see my old friend, Cassie. 

Imagine my surprise when I saw Jake, Rachel, Marco, and two adults who seemed to be Cassie's parents in the waiting room.

I saw their faces twist in surprise, and then turn to dark hatred. 

"Hello," I said, politely to her parents. 

"Oh, hello." Answered her mother, smiling. "I don't believe we've met."

"I am new in this town," I replied, watching the 'Animorphs' carefully. 

"Ah, well, it's nice to meet you, um…"

"Damon." I replied, giving only my first name. I would use an alias if they asked for my last name.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you," Her father cut in. 

I sat down in a chair behind Cassie's parents, by Jake, Marco, and Rachel.

"You scum," Rachel whispered to me, glaring. "I'll get you for what you did to Cassie!" she snarled. 

I smirked. "But until then, what are you to do about it? You cannot simply tell everyone what I am. They would never believe you."

"Maybe not," Jake told me, an odd glint in his eyes. "But we can still gain our revenge." 

"Jake, Jake, Jake." I said. "If you hadn't destroyed _my_ love, this would never have happened to you, would it? And there's nothing you can do about it."

I stood up, and walked out of the hospital. 

I couldn't wait for the next part of my plan to happen. But I had to be patient. 

The games were just beginning, and they would most likely prove to be most entertaining.

Chapter 28

Marco

That stupid…

__

Ergh! I thought. _I can't even think up a name for him. I don't know whether to say 'boy', 'vampire', or something less appropriate…_

I almost laughed at that thought.

(AN: Incase your wondering, being that I am only 11, I'm not allowed to write…certain things in my stories, nor do I want to/choose to. If you have a problem with that, tough. But that's the way it is. Anyway. Back to the story, not my life story, but the real one of course…)

I was extremely annoyed. He could walk around, go anywhere, and no one cared. Because (1) he was no potential threat to the Yeerks and (2) no one knew the truth about him.

It was so…_unfair_ that he could enter the normal world. 

He was a sickening being, and I _hated_ him. 

Rachel and Jake would do _anything_ for revenge I knew, except maybe deal with the Yeerks or Crayak. But still…

Sometimes, when you think you know someone, they'll do something so unbelievable, you wonder if you ever really _did_ know the person. 

That's what happened when I saw Jake the other day.

He had a faraway look on his face, and a weird glint in his eye.

"Marco," He began. "I've got good news and bad news."

"Tell me the good news first." I requested.

"The good news is Cassie is apparently awake. The bad news is, she's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean, _gone_?"

"I mean **_gone_**. She's not in the hospital anymore, she somehow got out."

I paled, eyes widening. "But how…? She was in a coma, for crying out loud! No one just…just gets up and walks away from that!"

"I know." Jake looked at me, tears in his eyes. "Cassie's gone, _again_!" He cried out. "Gone, and it's because we didn't protect her.. Oh Cassie!"

I held Jake as he cried out, and that's when I saw the cold, hard line A-to-B.

Chapter 29

Damon

I was walking down the street, working out my plan, when I saw her. She was walking in the opposite direction of me, (in other words, coming right at me) and she had long black hair, and yellow eyes. She was just a bit shorter than Cassandra, the blond-haired, green-eyed Cassandra that was planted into my memory.

"Excuse me," I heard her voice, and it brought me back to reality. 

"Oh, I'm sorry," I answered, stepping aside. I looked up from the ground that I had been staring at as I thought.

I saw a look of bewilderment cross her face. 

"The name's Damon." I told her. 

"Damon ------" She finished for me. (AN: That's right! I'm not going to tell you his last name, mwahahaha. ^_^ Take that, faithful or-not-so-faithful- readers!)

Now it was my turn to be a bit confused. I had never met this girl, in all my lifetime. 

"Have we met before?" I asked.

"No, I don't believe we have." She stated, looking dazed. 

"Then how do you know my name?!" I demanded angrily. 

"I…I don't know. But somewhere I seemed to gather that I know you." She shook her head.

I calmed down a bit, enough to ask her name.

"Cassandra," She replied. "Cassandra -----" (AN: Nope, not telling Cassandra's last name either.)

I felt my blood chill. That was Cassandra's, _my Cassandra's_ last name.

"Cassandra -----? Spelled with an 'I'?" I asked quickly.

"Why yes!" She answered.

I took the girls hand. "How is it that you know my name?" 

"I…I…I don't know. A voice in my head tells me…" She sounded as though she were faraway. I could see a battle going on in her head.

I held out my arm for her, which she took. I was going to see who she was.

The games had just gotten a bit more complicated.

Chapter 30

Cassie

I was tired, oh so tired. But he kept me awake, bringing me food when I asked for it.

He was kind, and nice. I didn't remember anything from a few days ago, just what was happening now. 

I was somewhere, in a quite building, that was painted white, and there were lots of people to visit.

But I didn't go anywhere; I was so tired… Tired…

I yawned sleepily, as I ate a donut. 

I drank some milk with it, and then I lay back down on my bed, staring up at the black ceiling, thinking hard. 

I yawned again… Life was tiring. I pulled some covers and blankets over myself, and laid my head down onto my pillows that were soft and silky.

I closed my eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 31

Cassandra

I awoke on a bed, not my usual one, but it was softer and I was propped up more. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, and sat up.

"Ah!" I cried out, and grabbed my arm, feeling enormous pain.

I turned my gaze to it, and saw stitches from my shoulder to the point where it joined my arm.

"Cassandra!" A voice I recognized as Damon's called. "You're awake!"

"My arm, it hurts so much.." I said.

"I know, I know. The stitches should heal in about another week." He told me.

"I barely remember anything." I began to tell him. "I remember my arm being slashed, but nothing more."

"Yes. We rushed you into our little medical room as soon as we could. We feared we would be too late."

"Let's not dwell on it. What's in the past is in the past," I quoted. 

"Yes." 

There was an uncomfortable silence, one that had been between us back when I had first came here, or, more accurately, when I had first been brought here. 

I shifted irritably, and Damon, seeing my discomfort, finally spoke up.

"You've been sleeping for three days. Everyone was worried about you. Catherine was miserable."

I smiled at the thought of Catherine. "Where is she?"

"Visiting Edgar. He's the only one who was worried as I was. And the only one who could comfort her."

I sighed. I was hungry.

"Can I have something to eat?" I asked.

"Of course! I've been stupid; I completely forgot to ask you if you were hungry or thirsty. What would you like?"

"Oh, anything. And some water to go with it."

"Sure?" He asked. 

"Yeah." I replied. "Thanks, Damon."

"I'll be right back." He answered, happier now that I was ascending above my grouchiness and becoming my old self again.

Chapter 32

Rachel

"We _have_ to find her!" I raged. "Cassie is in the hands of that psycho **_again!_**"

"I know, Rachel." Jake tried to calm me, but it didn't help. Cassie might be his girlfriend, but she and I had been best friends forever. If that creep did anything to her…

I slammed my fist onto a desk. "How are we going to get her now? Everyone is worried. Kidnappings, they're talking about. Rabid animals, they say. They remember the wolf, Jake. They remember Cassandra. And now that…_boy_ is here, messing with Cassie, probably driving her mad, and we're stuck doing NOTHING!"

Jake placed a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, Rachel. We can beat him. We beat the Valeek, we've beat Visser Three, and we've beat David. We've beaten _Crayak_ _and his Howler's_, for crying out loud, don't worry! We beat that boy bef-"

I stared at him, hard. "Did we Jake? _Did we?_ I don't know. He was probably doing that just to mess with us. We can't do anything just sitting here in Cassie's barn, worrying about her!"

"Rachel's right." Marco spoke up for the first time. "We have to do something. Those search guys aren't going to find her if they couldn't last time. That kid, whoever he thinks he is, he knows his way around. He knows the forest, obviously, and wherever he's hidden Cassie it's not going to be in broad daylight."

I smiled a bit at Marco. Marco is the A-to-B person; the guy who finds it and then does whatever it takes to get there. Almost anything, anyway. 

I knew he had a plan. His face was deadly serious, but at the same time he was hiding his emotions, tuning everything out that wasn't important, and focusing on the facts to get an idea of what to do.

"We need a plan. And I think I've got a partial one. I mean, we all remember-or at least, I remember- those weird like apparitions and voices that went on.

"I think that if we remember everything we can about Cassandra, then we might be able to piece together at least who this guy is."

I nodded in approval. Marco can be annoying, but, like I said, he knows the line from A-to-B. 

"Any more brilliant ideas?" Asked Jake.

Marco and I shrugged.

I have one. Tobias spoke up. Why don't we check the cave where he first held Cassie, and maybe that pit, or tomb, whatever, where Cassandra first 'emerged'?

Jake rubbed his hands together, in his usual 'even-though-this-is-the-worst-thing-that-could-ever-happen-let's-be-cheerful' way, and started separating us into groups. 

"Alright. Tobias and I will go check out the cave where Cassie was held. Ax, Rachel? You go check out the pit. And Marco? Try and remember if Cassandra ever said anything important, or whether or not any of those voices meant anything."

"Finally!" I said. "We're doing something!" 

That said, we all began to morph, except Marco, and four birds of prey and one human boy left the barn, in search of Cassie.


	5. Dark Dreams (Chapters 25-32)

Chapter 25

Ax

Rachel had morphed and was following Tobias to Cassie's house to get help. They were racing against time, against death…

Jake was kneeling by Cassie, silent and pale. He would not respond to anyone or anything, he just sat there, staring, seemingly saying something to himself over and over.

Marco was standing off by himself, his face hidden and blank so no one could read his emotions or thoughts.

I, Aximili, was afraid. In my hearts I felt a pain and loss that I had felt when Tobias had been traded for Marco, for Marco when he had 'died' and then been kidnapped.

Cassie was my friend. She was kind and understanding, and as I saw her laying in the grass in an unnatural way, I cried out for her. 

We stood, silent and pale, hoping and willing help to come.

Suddenly I heard a voice in my head. 

[Ax? Jake? Marco? Better move. Chopper's closing in fast.] 

Tobias! He and Rachel had returned. I took off to the shadows, hiding myself in a position where I could see Cassie but not be seen by anyone in the helicopter.

I heard a whirring noise, and Jake and Marco stepped back, holding a hand to their eyes as they looked up. 

My stalk eyes followed their eyes, and I saw the helicopter, and as it came closer, the whirring became louder.

Just as I thought I couldn't take the noise any longer, they began to descend. Plants bowed down, and tree branches swayed. 

The helicopter landed close to Cassie, and two men jumped out with a stretcher. The lifted Cassie onto it, and then placed her in the helicopter. 

One man walked over to Jake and Marco, and seemed to be asking them something. Jake replied, the man shrugged, and ran back to the helicopter.

Jake and Marco melded into the shadows as it took off, and soon I saw a peregrine falcon and an osprey take flight.

[Ax?] A voiced questioned.

[I am here, Prince Jake. I will join you shortly.]

[All right, man…Just, take care, you know?] 

[Yes,] I replied. 

I stood staring at the stained grass that Cassie had been lying on. It was a brownish-red, and there was a small impression mark from her body. I shivered, and then I concentrated on the image of a Northern Harrier.

Chapter 26

Jake

No questions were asked. The only thing that mattered was Cassie. 

School was canceled. This was the second attack on one of the students, they wanted people to feel safe- wanted them to be able to recover.

But that didn't matter. Only Cassie did.

Her parents barely left the room, let alone the hospital. Rachel, Marco, and I were there a lot as well. 

__

Oh Cassie… 

'She's in a coma,' the doctors would say. 'We can't do anything to wake her up. She's lucky to be alive. She lost a lot of blood.' 

My heart was just about broken. It was hanging by a small thread of hope that Cassie would live, Cassie would awaken. And then there was that nagging, ripping, conquering feeling called _Revenge_.

I wanted to find that boy, I would find him and I would make him pay. I would do to him what he had done to Cassie, I would have _revenge_. 

Revenge is an odd thing. It can start first, like when Cassie had been kidnapped, I was angry, I wanted to save her, but I wasn't bent on revenge, no, then. 

When that boy had knocked Marco out, it made me a bit angrier, I wanted to hurt him, but then- when he had…..When he had…. When he had done what he had done to Cassie, I wanted _revenge_, not just throwing him into jail revenge or whatever revenge, but revenge as in make-him-suffer revenge.

I was going to find that boy, and then he would know what he had done to Cassie, my friend, and my secret crush. 

And I would make him pay.

Chapter 27

Damon

I walked among the humans to the hospital. I was going to see my old friend, Cassie. 

Imagine my surprise when I saw Jake, Rachel, Marco, and two adults who seemed to be Cassie's parents in the waiting room.

I saw their faces twist in surprise, and then turn to dark hatred. 

"Hello," I said, politely to her parents. 

"Oh, hello." Answered her mother, smiling. "I don't believe we've met."

"I am new in this town," I replied, watching the 'Animorphs' carefully. 

"Ah, well, it's nice to meet you, um…"

"Damon." I replied, giving only my first name. I would use an alias if they asked for my last name.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you," Her father cut in. 

I sat down in a chair behind Cassie's parents, by Jake, Marco, and Rachel.

"You scum," Rachel whispered to me, glaring. "I'll get you for what you did to Cassie!" she snarled. 

I smirked. "But until then, what are you to do about it? You cannot simply tell everyone what I am. They would never believe you."

"Maybe not," Jake told me, an odd glint in his eyes. "But we can still gain our revenge." 

"Jake, Jake, Jake." I said. "If you hadn't destroyed _my_ love, this would never have happened to you, would it? And there's nothing you can do about it."

I stood up, and walked out of the hospital. 

I couldn't wait for the next part of my plan to happen. But I had to be patient. 

The games were just beginning, and they would most likely prove to be most entertaining.

Chapter 28

Marco

That stupid…

__

Ergh! I thought. _I can't even think up a name for him. I don't know whether to say 'boy', 'vampire', or something less appropriate…_

I almost laughed at that thought.

(AN: Incase your wondering, being that I am only 11, I'm not allowed to write…certain things in my stories, nor do I want to/choose to. If you have a problem with that, tough. But that's the way it is. Anyway. Back to the story, not my life story, but the real one of course…)

I was extremely annoyed. He could walk around, go anywhere, and no one cared. Because (1) he was no potential threat to the Yeerks and (2) no one knew the truth about him.

It was so…_unfair_ that he could enter the normal world. 

He was a sickening being, and I _hated_ him. 

Rachel and Jake would do _anything_ for revenge I knew, except maybe deal with the Yeerks or Crayak. But still…

Sometimes, when you think you know someone, they'll do something so unbelievable, you wonder if you ever really _did_ know the person. 

That's what happened when I saw Jake the other day.

He had a faraway look on his face, and a weird glint in his eye.

"Marco," He began. "I've got good news and bad news."

"Tell me the good news first." I requested.

"The good news is Cassie is apparently awake. The bad news is, she's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean, _gone_?"

"I mean **_gone_**. She's not in the hospital anymore, she somehow got out."

I paled, eyes widening. "But how…? She was in a coma, for crying out loud! No one just…just gets up and walks away from that!"

"I know." Jake looked at me, tears in his eyes. "Cassie's gone, _again_!" He cried out. "Gone, and it's because we didn't protect her.. Oh Cassie!"

I held Jake as he cried out, and that's when I saw the cold, hard line A-to-B.

Chapter 29

Damon

I was walking down the street, working out my plan, when I saw her. She was walking in the opposite direction of me, (in other words, coming right at me) and she had long black hair, and yellow eyes. She was just a bit shorter than Cassandra, the blond-haired, green-eyed Cassandra that was planted into my memory.

"Excuse me," I heard her voice, and it brought me back to reality. 

"Oh, I'm sorry," I answered, stepping aside. I looked up from the ground that I had been staring at as I thought.

I saw a look of bewilderment cross her face. 

"The name's Damon." I told her. 

"Damon ------" She finished for me. (AN: That's right! I'm not going to tell you his last name, mwahahaha. ^_^ Take that, faithful or-not-so-faithful- readers!)

Now it was my turn to be a bit confused. I had never met this girl, in all my lifetime. 

"Have we met before?" I asked.

"No, I don't believe we have." She stated, looking dazed. 

"Then how do you know my name?!" I demanded angrily. 

"I…I don't know. But somewhere I seemed to gather that I know you." She shook her head.

I calmed down a bit, enough to ask her name.

"Cassandra," She replied. "Cassandra -----" (AN: Nope, not telling Cassandra's last name either.)

I felt my blood chill. That was Cassandra's, _my Cassandra's_ last name.

"Cassandra -----? Spelled with an 'I'?" I asked quickly.

"Why yes!" She answered.

I took the girls hand. "How is it that you know my name?" 

"I…I…I don't know. A voice in my head tells me…" She sounded as though she were faraway. I could see a battle going on in her head.

I held out my arm for her, which she took. I was going to see who she was.

The games had just gotten a bit more complicated.

Chapter 30

Cassie

I was tired, oh so tired. But he kept me awake, bringing me food when I asked for it.

He was kind, and nice. I didn't remember anything from a few days ago, just what was happening now. 

I was somewhere, in a quite building, that was painted white, and there were lots of people to visit.

But I didn't go anywhere; I was so tired… Tired…

I yawned sleepily, as I ate a donut. 

I drank some milk with it, and then I lay back down on my bed, staring up at the black ceiling, thinking hard. 

I yawned again… Life was tiring. I pulled some covers and blankets over myself, and laid my head down onto my pillows that were soft and silky.

I closed my eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 31

Cassandra

I awoke on a bed, not my usual one, but it was softer and I was propped up more. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, and sat up.

"Ah!" I cried out, and grabbed my arm, feeling enormous pain.

I turned my gaze to it, and saw stitches from my shoulder to the point where it joined my arm.

"Cassandra!" A voice I recognized as Damon's called. "You're awake!"

"My arm, it hurts so much.." I said.

"I know, I know. The stitches should heal in about another week." He told me.

"I barely remember anything." I began to tell him. "I remember my arm being slashed, but nothing more."

"Yes. We rushed you into our little medical room as soon as we could. We feared we would be too late."

"Let's not dwell on it. What's in the past is in the past," I quoted. 

"Yes." 

There was an uncomfortable silence, one that had been between us back when I had first came here, or, more accurately, when I had first been brought here. 

I shifted irritably, and Damon, seeing my discomfort, finally spoke up.

"You've been sleeping for three days. Everyone was worried about you. Catherine was miserable."

I smiled at the thought of Catherine. "Where is she?"

"Visiting Edgar. He's the only one who was worried as I was. And the only one who could comfort her."

I sighed. I was hungry.

"Can I have something to eat?" I asked.

"Of course! I've been stupid; I completely forgot to ask you if you were hungry or thirsty. What would you like?"

"Oh, anything. And some water to go with it."

"Sure?" He asked. 

"Yeah." I replied. "Thanks, Damon."

"I'll be right back." He answered, happier now that I was ascending above my grouchiness and becoming my old self again.

Chapter 32

Rachel

"We _have_ to find her!" I raged. "Cassie is in the hands of that psycho **_again!_**"

"I know, Rachel." Jake tried to calm me, but it didn't help. Cassie might be his girlfriend, but she and I had been best friends forever. If that creep did anything to her…

I slammed my fist onto a desk. "How are we going to get her now? Everyone is worried. Kidnappings, they're talking about. Rabid animals, they say. They remember the wolf, Jake. They remember Cassandra. And now that…_boy_ is here, messing with Cassie, probably driving her mad, and we're stuck doing NOTHING!"

Jake placed a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, Rachel. We can beat him. We beat the Valeek, we've beat Visser Three, and we've beat David. We've beaten _Crayak_ _and his Howler's_, for crying out loud, don't worry! We beat that boy bef-"

I stared at him, hard. "Did we Jake? _Did we?_ I don't know. He was probably doing that just to mess with us. We can't do anything just sitting here in Cassie's barn, worrying about her!"

"Rachel's right." Marco spoke up for the first time. "We have to do something. Those search guys aren't going to find her if they couldn't last time. That kid, whoever he thinks he is, he knows his way around. He knows the forest, obviously, and wherever he's hidden Cassie it's not going to be in broad daylight."

I smiled a bit at Marco. Marco is the A-to-B person; the guy who finds it and then does whatever it takes to get there. Almost anything, anyway. 

I knew he had a plan. His face was deadly serious, but at the same time he was hiding his emotions, tuning everything out that wasn't important, and focusing on the facts to get an idea of what to do.

"We need a plan. And I think I've got a partial one. I mean, we all remember-or at least, I remember- those weird like apparitions and voices that went on.

"I think that if we remember everything we can about Cassandra, then we might be able to piece together at least who this guy is."

I nodded in approval. Marco can be annoying, but, like I said, he knows the line from A-to-B. 

"Any more brilliant ideas?" Asked Jake.

Marco and I shrugged.

[I have one.] Tobias spoke up. [Why don't we check the cave where he first held Cassie, and maybe that pit, or tomb, whatever, where Cassandra first 'emerged'?]

Jake rubbed his hands together, in his usual 'even-though-this-is-the-worst-thing-that-could-ever-happen-let's-be-cheerful' way, and started separating us into groups. 

"Alright. Tobias and I will go check out the cave where Cassie was held. Ax, Rachel? You go check out the pit. And Marco? Try and remember if Cassandra ever said anything important, or whether or not any of those voices meant anything."

"Finally!" I said. "We're doing something!" 

That said, we all began to morph, except Marco, and four birds of prey and one human boy left the barn, in search of Cassie.


	6. Dark Dreams (Chapters 33-38)

Chapter 33

Marco

I swear, I was ready for this whole thing to end. I was fed up with it. First, I'm attacked, then, kidnapped, then unconscious. Between Cassie and I, I don't know whose got the worse end of the deal.

I wanted to be able to go home. Chill with my dad. (OK, I **know** what happened in 45. Got it, read it, bought the T-shirt. Anyway, this story is kind of like between 44 and 45. I wanted Marco to be able to go home and go to school and stuff. Yeah…). Do homework. Live life. I wanted- as crazy as it seems- to fight Visser Three and the Yeerks. Not vampires. Next thing you know, werewolves will be biting us and we'll need to stock up on silver bullets.

I sighed, trying to remember all that had been said. I didn't want to remember what had happened. I found as the days went by, I was able to remember more of what happened when I was stuck with Cassandra. And I didn't like it…

I shuddered, remembering. I tried to focus, but it was too hard. Sighing, I sat in the grass, just outside Cassie's barn.

I don't know how it happened. One minute, there was nothing. Not a sound, except for the zillion insects, birds, and other animals. But then….

Snarling, the huge beast leapt from the woods. I say huge meaning **HUGE**, big, and muscular. We are talking I-could-toss-a-truck-fifty-feet-easily-huge. The thing came at me, and I sat, frozen, staring in its yellow predator eyes. 

It landed in front of me, saliva dripping from its fangs, eyes reddish yellow now. Growling in the back of its throat, it put its head closer to my face.

I could count the hairs on its face, smell his bad breath, and hear its voice.

__

Wait a second. Voice!? I thought.

__

"Fool," it snarled. _"I could kill you easily. But I won't. The games wouldn't be as fun then." _The voice was rough and sandpapery, it made me think of gravel against cement.

I backed away, still on the grass, facing the beast.

__

"Run," it mocked me. _"I remember my past, now. Damon helped me."_

Huh? Damon? The name sent a picture of that boy, the one who had attacked Cassie, had knocked me out.

__

"Don't you remember me, Marco? Your 'beloved Cassandra' from school?" 

CASSANDRA?!

"You aren't Cassandra! You're a… a… **_thing_**!"

Her eyes became slits. Her mouth became a sneering snarl. More saliva.

__

"A 'thing'? No, the proper term, I would say, is vampire."

Vampire! She seemed to be a werewolf, not a vampire.

I shuddered at her hoarse, throaty laughter. Her muzzle shook, sending saliva everywhere.

I began to morph, praying it would work. Not a real prayer really, just wanting to get away fast, to make it in time.

I morphed wolf as fast as I could, and Cassandra, who saw me morphing, glared. But she didn't do anything. 

__

Run, Little Marco. But I'll get you. I heard her voice in my mind, and I shuddered. And then I sped away as fast as my new body would take me.

Chapter 34

Rachel

There is a wolf outside the domain, Ax told me. 

AX I HOPE THAT'S YOU AND NOT SOME OTHER ANDALITE! The wolf shouted.

Marco! Ax exclaimed. Did you remember anything important?

No, man. Just this- Cassandra at our school Cassandra is a vampire too! She and that Damon guy have teamed up, and are holding Cassie somewhere! 

"We knew the last part. But the first?" I said.

Marco began demorphing. Yeah, she ca-

His thought speech was cut off, as he became more wolf than human.

"What I mean was, she visited me at the barn in larger-than-life-wolf version. Apparently, these vampires can turn into monstrous animals, instead of just normal ones." He shuddered. 

I nodded. "We better tell Jake."

"Alright. Let me catch my breath first."

Ax looked up with his stalk eyes. We followed his gaze.

It appears that Jake and Tobias are coming to us.

Hey guys! We have news! We think we found directions on how to get to this place.

"Really?" I exclaimed. "LET'S DO IT!" 

Marco rolled his eyes. 

I glared at him, and he took a step back. "We have to save Cassie!"

We haven't got time to fight! Rachel's right, let's go! Tobias said.

Alright. Let me demorph though.

Jake landed on the forest floor, and became human. He rest a minute, and showed us a piece of paper he had carried in his beak. "See? We start here." He pointed to a place on the hurriedly sketched map. "Which is right where we are now!" 

"You're right!" Marco cried. "It _is_ right here! And see; then we go five miles northwest, seven north from there, and then it's just a mile-" He squinted. "The rest is all like, scribble."

"Crap!" I swore.

Jake shrugged. "We'll just have to guess from there."

Ax nodded. Yes. Let us go. We must save Cassie from this 'psycho'.

I could've laughed from the way Ax spoke, but I didn't. I quickly morphed cheetah. We needed all the speed we could get.

Chapter 35

Damon

"Do you know what I'm going to do to you?" I asked her, smiling amusedly at her. "I'm going to make you do horrible things to your friends. Especially Jake." Anger crossed my eyes.

Cassie sat, cowering in a corner.

"Would you like to see?" For the next few minutes, I fed her images of things I would make her do. 

"No!" She cried out! "Not Jake! Not Rachel! Don't!"

I laughed at her. "Cassie, it's too late for that. Prepare to enter your worst nightmare."

I bent over her, and not for the first time since I had met her, I sank my fangs into her neck.

Chapter 36

Jake

We raced along, following the directions as Ax read them, who was still Andalite. We had all morphed cheetah, like Rachel.

As we raced along, I prepared myself for the worst. 

Anything but what we saw.

A camouflaged building came into view as we slowed to a stop. We demorphed, and Tobias circled around to get the lay of the outer building.

No windows, He said, sounding giddy and wired. So un-Tobias like. 

Is there any entrance?

Not that I c- Tobias broke off, leaving me worried. Wait! There's a door! He cried.

We slunk onward, keeping to the shadows. We knew Damon's tricks by now.

At least, we thought we did. After we had gone to our most powerful morphs- Elephant and Rhinoceros- we charged into the compound.

Roaring and stomping and trumpeting deafened us, making Marco and I almost useless in our Rhino morphs.

To the left. Straight forward, right- Rachel sighed. Marco, you missed! You hit a tree!

Oh. That's why it hurt.

I could picture Rachel's eye roll, but I ignored it. I was already in the wide corridors, racing down the tunnels, looking for Cassie.

I stomped by an endless stream of doors, and, even though I could barely see, the white blinded my eyes, burning them. And suddenly, I saw her. Cassandra.

But wait! 

It was the old Cassandra! She looked puzzled, and, then her eyes widened as she saw me charging toward her, horn lowered.

I skidded to a stop, just in time. That's when I saw the _other_ Cassandra.

Chapter 37

Cassandra

I stared at my doom. A huge, Rhinoceros horn was charging at me, certainly I wouldn't make it.

Inches from my face, the Rhino managed to stop, and it blinked, staring into my face.

Cassandra?! A mental voice said into my voice. I recognized it immediately.

"Jake!" I exclaimed. Some part of me awakened, renewed by our meeting. I blinked, as the Rhino began to shrink and become smaller until it was a human boy in a T-shirt and shorts.

"Uh." Jake blushed at his outfit.

"Jake," I said again. I was remembering what I had forgotten; waves of it overflowed my brain, overloading it with information.

"Where are the others?" I inquired. I looked around me, and, with a shock, acknowledged where I was. 

I was at the compound again.

I heard a door slam open and a rip as it fell off its hinges from the force of its opening.

"Wha-" A harsh voice began. "CASSANDRA!!!!" 

I whirled, and saw Damon. I felt the warmth of his embrace, and I sighed, happily.

I somehow saw Cassie and Rachel and Ax, Marco, and Tobias along with Jake stare at us, but I ignored it.

It was hard to ignore anything when we were suddenly flung into a dark void.

Space.

Chapter 38

Ax

"What the!?" Called the vampire Damon.

Space. I replied. The Ellimist. I pointed a blue-tan finger at the smiling bluish being.

WELCOME BACK. I heard and felt his, her, _its_ voice in my mind, and out loud.

"Back?" Echoed Damon. "I was never here. And I don't wish to be." I could see the uneasiness on his face. Unusual, for what he had done, for me to see him uneasy.

Tobias and the others, along with Cassandra seemed to 'float' nearby.

"Please not inside out land. Please not inside out land." Muttered Marco in a half chant.

I could here and sense the Ellimist's laughter. 

HA HA. VERY FUNNY, MARCO.

Marco muttered something else I couldn't hear.

"Why are we here?" Asked Rachel, getting to the point.

A GOOD QUESTION. I WILL ANSWER.

YOU WERE BROUGHT HERE BECAUSE AS SOON AS YOU ALL STEPPED INTO THE BUILDING, THE TIME-RIP WAS FIXED. AS YOU CAN SEE, THE OTHER 'CASSANDRA' IS GONE. ALL THAT IS LEFT IS THE REAL CASSANDRA, DAMON, AND, OF COURSE- YOU SIX.

"It's all so clear now. Can we go yet? At least back to earth?" Grumbled Marco.

IN A MINUTE.

Marco smiled grimly. 

"So what's the point of brining us here?"

NOTHING REALLY. I SIMPLY FELT TO EXPLAIN. NOW THAT ALL HAS BEEN RIGHTLY RESTORED, I COULD TAKE YOU BACK.

Jake raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you?"

He is just playing his game with us. I said, impatiently. I would've grounded a hoof into the ground, had we even been on earth, or any land for that matter. 

Rachel snorted, but didn't say anything. Marco was smirking.

I was annoyed, but I had learned to get used to it. 

I shrugged a human-like motion that I had picked up from my human friends and Prince Jake.

"Who the heck is this guy anyway?" Inquired Cassandra, slightly annoyed for her own personal reasons. Or else by being taken into a space-void with an almost all-powerful being that 'did not interfere'. 

He is the Ellimist. An almost all-powerful being. I explained.

Cassandra raised an eyebrow, with the hint of a smirk on her face. "Almost only counts in horseshoes." She quoted.

HA HA. NOW, TO BUISNESS.

AS YOU RECALL, CASSANDRA, YOU MADE A CHOICE- TO GO BACK IN TIME TO MEET WITH DAMON. BUT YOU DIDN'T PROPERLY THINK OVER YOUR CHOICE.

Cassandra's head lowered, her hair dripping around it. "No," Came her answer. 

DO NOT BE ASHAMED. ALL MAKE MISTAKES. 

"Even almost all-powerful beings?"

The Ellimist laughed. EVEN ALMOST ALL-POWERFUL BEINGS. 

ANYWAY, AS I SAID- YOU WENT BACK IN TIME, ONLY TO FIND YOURSELF HAVING NO MEMORIES OF THE FUTURE, AND THEN A NEW CASSANDRA APPEARED- TO TAKE YOUR PLACE ALMOST.

SHE HAD HAZED MEMORIES- YOUR MEMORIES. 

The Ellimist paused, letting this sink in.

ONE MORE TIME, I WILL ALLOW YOU TO MAKE A CHOICE. WHAT WILL IT BE?

Cassandra bit her lip. I could see her thinking hard.

SO BE IT. 

There was a blinding flash of light, and suddenly- we were back at earth. In Cassie's barn. 

Chapter 39

Cassie

"Is it over?" Asked Jake as we sat inside my barn.

It will never be over. Even if we win the war, it won't. Tobias said, almost philosophically. 

Rightly said, _shorm_ Tobias. Ax approved.

"I wonder what happened to Cassandra and Damon?" I mused aloud.

"I suppose we'll never know." Jake said solemnly, walking over and taking my hand. 

"Do you think they're happy, wherever they are?" Questioned Rachel.

Jake sighed.

"Rachel, if the Ellimist has any heart, Cassandra is in paradise with Damon."

"Not that he deserves it." Joked Marco.

We all laughed. The adventure was over, for now, at least. The Yeerks would fight us. We would fight them. But we had already one at least a million battles.

AN: Anyway, I finally finished this story! I hope you liked it. I know I did. Some of it was bad, I know. But, there will be other fics…. There ya go, folks.


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